horseshoe curve national historic landmark

The Horseshoe Curve is worth the visit. When you can see an entire train wrapped around the curve, you get a great appreciation for the men who built that curve! The admission fee to the Curve also gets you into the Railroader's Museum, a true jewel of railroad history.

My son loves to go to the curve and we sit for Hours watching the trains. They have picnic tables so we take lunch.

Seems to be a money maker with not too much actual real info on the Curve. Overpriced things in their Gift Shop. Made a special trip with my family last Summer and the lift was out of order and had to walk up, which they did not mind too much except that they had to pay the same price as when you ride up! I could not go as I had just had knee surgery. If you plan on going call first to see if it is running, as it is not cheap. Not exactly sure of what month we went

This is a nice place in the fall.All the trees are turning colors and this give you a place to go to see how beautiful fall can be.I loved it there not much to do but the drive there is nice.I have seen some bad reviews but it is what it is.If you have the right company with you you will have a great time.

Make no mistake about it, as a train enthusiast, you will love this place. The thing i was disappointed with compared to 30 years ago was, the trees have grown so much in height around the inside of the curve on both the east and west approaches, you can no longer see an entire train from front to back wrap the curve. Don't know who could restore the curve to its original look but you would think with todays modern equipment it wouldn't take much just to cut those trees and let them lay to improve the experience.....If you dont like the curve, try downtown Altoona, the tunnels at Gallitzin, Cresson or even my original Pennsylvania rail viewing place Lilly to view the trains running the Allegheny mountains.

The Horseshoe Curve is an important engineering feat that is impressive that although it was built 150 years ago, it is still being used for trains today. To see the curve is to see a perfect example of understated American ingenuity tackling a seemingly insurmountable problem. With that said, the exhibits themselves are dated and need a facelift. It was disappointing that the funicular only operated every 30 minutes, there really was no reason that they did not operate more often. Many of the other exhibits were faded, had peeling paint or did not operate. The park staff also did not have any indication of when trains would pass through the area. It seems that Norfolk Southern would give the park staff this information as it would have enhanced the visit. Fortunately, my admission was included with the railroad museum as I would have been disappointed to pay for a separate admission. For those of you that want to visit on the cheap, you can see the train pass by from the parking area.

Having heard so much of it, I cannot relate how utterly disappointing this is. It has a tiny bit to see when a train is climbing, but next to zero w/o a train present. Frankly,. I'd just as soon watch the grass grow.

How do you get "goods" from eastern US to western US? By rail, of course!!! How do you cross over the mountains in western PA? Easy; build a series of reservoirs to act as locks and levies and barge the "goods" over the mountains. Who would have thought??? Welcome to the Allegheny Portage Railroad built in 1834 in Holidaysburg, PA. Although not very efficient, in accomplished its goal and opened the interior of the US to development. Realizing its limitations, the Pennsylvania Railroad was incorporated in 1847, to build a continuous railroad to replace the cumbersome Portage Railroad. Jump ahead to 1854 and welcome to the Horseshoe Curve.To say that this is just an accomplishment of man is an understatement. To realize how important it was; consider this: it was targeted by the Nazi Germany in 1942 as part of Operation Pastorius.

Having grown up in Altoona, I was disappointed to come home and see that gate was erected and an admission fee was charged. I much prefer hiking up the hill on the old railroad ties that were laid into the side of the hill.

11-2-14This is an outstanding place to watch and wave at the trains as they come by. About 70 come by a day. I saw 5 in an hour and a half. The view is awesome looking out over the reservoir. There is a overview of he history by the tram that takes you to the top. Very interesting. This is a must stop and worth the $6 admission. It was chilly up on the hill so take more clothing than you think you will need based on the parking lot when you pull in.

When we first arrived and discovered there was an entrance fee and it would be nearly $16 for the two of us, I hesitated, but as the mile-long freight train rumbled by I emphatically stated it was well-worth the price of admission. Not only is the curve an engineering feat, it is just way too much fun to stand so close that you can actually wave to the engineer (and he'll wave back). You can stand in the middle of the viewing area and watch the train make the complete curve while the front is on one side and the back is still coming from the other side. We were there on a Sunday and the funicular only runs every 30 minutes, but our timing is spot on. It's a short quick ride as one car goes up and one comes down and the tracks separate as they pass each other. There are also stairs. Once at the top you have a beautiful view of the surrounding hills and the valley in the distance. Trains seem to pass by fairly frequently. We saw two engines pass by and a mile-long freight train. At the base of the funicular there is a small but detailed museum and 2 short videos can be watched, with interviews of those who have worked on the rails. It's not too far off of the main highway, we got off at Gallitzin, found the tunnels and then it's just 5 miles to the curve. I think we spent a total of 1 hour, so it's a nice break without taking too long. We very much enjoyed the experience and I think anyone who even remotely loves trains, would love the curve.

My best friend and I stopped here on our yearly road trip. We like to see unique things. This is Awesome! There's plenty of trains that come by daily so you get the full effect of the curve. Definitely worth a detour.

We came here as a family member formally worked for the PRR. The amount of manpower (&animal) to create this Wonder of the modern world is mind boggling, but engineer & create the Horseshoe Curve among 3 mountain ridges is truly amazing! We came, rode the funicular to the curve & saw sev sets of trains go by. Lost count of how many cars were part of the one, but it went not only around, but out of sight on the uphill grade beyond both parts of the curve! The engineers blew their whistle/horns as visitors "asked" with pumping arms up/down. Beautiful fall weather. Only thing I'd "ask" is more tree clearing on the upgrade after trains round the curve & before they go out of sight round the next bend. Beautiful grounds w much attention to detail in creating the exhibit area. Worth coming back again..& again

I remembered the Horseshoe Curve from years ago when riding the train at night. You could see the train cars in front and in back all lit up as they rounded the Curve. There is more vegetation now which does obstruct the view however I feel it is still a worthwhile place to visit. We were there for about an hour and saw three trains pass. We paid for our admission, looked around the gift shop and took the funicular to the level of the trains. Afterward we visited the exhibits and watched a movie about the Curve and the people who work to maintain the tracks in all types of weather...very interesting.

I climbed the stairs (because their tiny funicular train was broken), I watched a train go by. It reminded me of other occasions in my life when I've watched trains go by. Boring. I recommend you skip this "attraction" and instead go to the Altoona Railroaders Museum (a few miles away). It's much more interesting.